CHILD WELFARE WATCH VOLUME 10 WINTER 2004-2005 PIVOTC POINT: MANAGINGW THE TRANSFORMATIONW OF CHILD WELFARE IN NYC here are few examples of anti-poverty programs proving so effective CONTENTS that they dramatically reduce the need for one of their core services. TBut that’s what has happened in child welfare. 3 RECOMMENDATIONS AND Since 1999, New York City has cut spending on foster care by more than SOLUTIONS $158 million, in current dollars. Six years ago, 12,000 children were taken 4 PLANNING SHRINKAGE from their parents and placed in boarding homes or group care. Last year ACS maps the future of foster care half that many had this terrifying experience. The recent reductions in foster care show safe with better investigations, greater 6 FOLLOW THE MONEY that policy matters. City officials have reliance on preventive family supports The child welfare budget toppled the conventional notion that child and more judicious use of foster care. welfare is, above all, a system for investi- But this vision is only partially realized. 8 FOSTER CARE EQUIP SCORES gating parents and caring for children Nonprofit organizations have long been after they are removed from home. The the durable engines of the child welfare 10 JOHN MATTINGLY DEFINES CHANGE new paradigm promotes keeping children sector, but they are proving less durable of late. As this edition of the Wa tch docu- 13 A SURVIVAL GUIDE ments, the foster care sector is in turmoil, Nonprofits must be nimble and family support programs need far more attention and investment. 18 PAUL LIGHT ON STRENGTHENING These pressures are not THE SECTOR unique to New York. Nationwide, social service 20 COLLIDING WITH REALITY programs are stumbling, often unprepared, into a period of Family support under stress rapid change and consolidation. Sometimes, as with foster care in 22 CLOSER TO HOME New York, change is the happy Foster kids in their communities result of government innova- tion. In other cases, shrinking 25 CHANGING THE RULES government budgets are forc- Families for foster teens ing the issue. Either way, nonprofits are rethinking their purpose and structure. Some are 31 WATCHING THE NUMBERS going out of business altogether. A six-year statistical survey continued on page 2 In New York, officials in the administration of Mayor Michael top court, the Court of Appeals, demanded that the city obtain Bloomberg have begun to use preventive social programs to prior judicial approval for child removals except in the most reduce the use of homeless shelters, cut recidivism in the city’s dangerous cases. Even so, lawyers on all sides of the system say jails, and keep teens out of court-ordered group home place- the city’s cases for removal are now much stronger—and more ments. Many human services sectors are re-conceiving how they infrequent—than they used to be. do their work, and contraction may follow in these areas as well. From a progressive point of view, what could be more com- In child welfare, the impact has at times been confounding. In pelling than a social service sector that has found a way to conversations with two dozen directors of nonprofit foster care agencies, the Wa tch heard many of them describe their organi- zations as desperate.These nonprofit city contractors have long been under tremendous stress, but they say the current auster- THE NEED FOR A SAFETY NET ity caused by the declining foster care caseload has been unbearable. Staff turnover has reached intolerable levels.Tax fil- FOR FAMILIES REMAINS AS ings reveal that agencies fortunate enough to have endowments are spending them down to keep programs afloat. CLEAR AS EVER. The sense within the industry is one of crisis and even outrage. This a jarring irony, because so much has gone right: foster chil- dren are spending a shorter time in government-funded care than improve by putting a significant part of itself out of business? they did in previous generations. City investigators who decide in Here’s what: the establishment of an even better system that an emergency whether a boy or girl should be taken from a par- protects children by helping parents and families deal with seri- ent now have better training, larger paychecks and less stressful ous problems, close to home, in their neighborhoods. caseloads than they once did, so they have greater capacity to Yet savings from the shrinkage of the foster care system are make good, discerning decisions than many of their predecessors. locked away from the sector, used to close state and city budg- Mistakes still happen in child protection. Children’s Rights, a et gaps. The federal funding that’s been saved, as much as $60 watchdog organization, says ACS responded poorly in several million per year, simply stays in Washington. It is not transfer- cases involving child deaths last year. And in October, the state’s able to other uses because of restrictions in the law. The need for a safety net for families remains as clear as ever. There has been no significant decline in the number of reports made to the state child abuse and neglect hotline since 1990. • As the number of children in foster care dropped from Families often have issues that need to be addressed if their chil- 38,440 to 22,082 between 1999 and 2004, total spending dren are to grow up healthy, safe and thriving. Except in on foster care and related services declined by $158 extreme cases, removal is no answer. million in current dollars. City child welfare officials understand this, but after lowering the foster care rolls they have had only limited ability to carry for- • Funds for preventive family support services have not ward the second half of their agenda, creating a stronger family increased since 1999, in current dollars, but the number support network. Preventive agencies handle far more cases now of families receiving preventive services increased 22 than in the past, but they are stuck paying their staff inadequate percent over the last four years. (See “Colliding With salaries. The number of families receiving preventive services has Reality,” page 20) increased 22 percent in four years, but there has been no increase in the preventive budget when accounting for inflation. In addi- • By the end of 2005, the city intends to close 30 foster tion, Governor George Pataki recently vetoed continued funding group homes, or nearly half of its foster care group home for a separate state-backed family support program that last year beds, including those run by ACS and nonprofits. (See served more than 3,100 families statewide.What's more, this year “Changing the Rules,” page 25) the Pataki administration shifted more than $45 million in federal welfare funding out of ACS programs—most of it for preven- • Almost 95 percent of foster children are now placed in tive—to close state budget gaps. This was replaced with city the care of 47 private nonprofit agencies. But directors of tax-levy funds, but an even larger state cut is expected next year— these agencies tell Child Welfare Watch there is not and whether the city can fill the gap again is far from certain. enough work to go around, and further contraction of the Social programs that serve the poor have long been dispar- sector is unavoidable. (See “Planning Shrinkage,” page 4) aged as self-perpetuating and inflexible. New York can prove it’s not so—but only if the city finds the will to create a true alter- native to foster care. y —ANDREW WHITE 2 CHILD WELFARE WATCH Recommendations and Solutions proposed by Child Welfare Watch he new direction in New York City child welfare is all about careful investigation other service providers and institutions; and informed decisions, neighborhood-based social programs for overstressed fami- community roots and cultural competence; Tlies, and shared responsibility across agencies and communities for helping parents openness and responsiveness to changing keep their homes together. trends; capacity to raise other resources from private philanthropy; staffing that includes But the city’s child welfare system is undergoing wrenching—and necessary—adjust- parent advocates, and cost to the city. ments as part of this rebirth. Community-based, preventive family support services are THE DECISION TO PLACE TEENS IN FOSTER, managed by nonprofit agencies that haven’t seen even a cost of living increase in five KINSHIP OR ADOPTIVE HOMES, RATHER THAN years.The neighborhood-based system of responsible oversight and shared case support GROUP HOMES, SHOULD BE BASED ON THE is still very much under construction. And many nonprofit foster care agencies are hav- AVAILABILITY OF GOOD FOSTER HOMES. ing a hard time remaining fiscally stable as the number of children in foster care declines. Other things being equal, Child Welfare Watch believes placements in families are prefer- If the system aims to build and reinforce a more productive and more humane way of able to placements in institutions for teens in protecting children and strengthening families, change must be made with care. foster care. However, for teens who have Following is a short list of recommendations from the Child Welfare Watch advisory already had bad experiences in foster homes, board, based on our reporting and research for this edition. or who have grown accustomed to group home life, a forced switch to a foster home can be explosive. The city should provide RE-INVEST IN A STRONGER NETWORK OF creating new incentives for greater prevention intensive support services that will aid young PREVENTIVE FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES. and family support efforts, as recently recom- people and prospective foster families in the The federal, state and city governments have mended by the Pew Commission on Children transition to these new living arrangements.